Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Talk Into the Mic, Not On It

So I'm watching people sing, bands perform, etc. I've noticed that some of the singers sing on the mic.. like, their mouths are literally touching the mic..... and not by accident. How does that work? Don't the words they sing get muffled because of the mic foam? Don't even get me started on how dirty those mic foams are... and how many other people have sung on the mics/mic foams before you? Think about how many germs there are, how dirty the mics become, and how easily you could get sick. The mic will be able to "hear" you and record your sound as long as you speak or sing properly into it.

There are two main types of mics (in terms of how you talk into it):
Omnidirectional and Unidirectional (there are also other ones, but they're sort of a combination, or for specific things)

From the word omnidirectional, you can pretty much figure out what it means. Omni means all, so omnidirectional means it will receive sound waves from all directions. You can talk into the mic from almost any angle, as long as it is directed towards the mic (obviously the round part, not the handle). Although some may think that these mics are better, they also have a negative side effect - it will also receive unwanted sounds. Since the mic will receive soundwaves or signals from many directions, any loud noises directed at the mic will also be projected into the speakers or amplifiers. So beware!

From the word unidirectional, uni means one. Hence, it only receives sound from one direction - usually the top of the mic. This is why it is hard to hear someone even if they are using a mic, if their mic is a unidirectional mic, and they are not speaking directly into the top of the mic. If you try and speak into the mic from an angle, or into the sides, your sound will not be received as clearly, and you will end up being really quiet. No soundboard/mixer will be able to turn you up without allowing feedback. I am not an expert techie, but that is what I learned from doing AV (audio visual) work.

Anyway, I think that because I'm sick it's been causing me to become really paranoid and ultra sensitive to germy things. D=

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